A source has told The Associated Press that Detroit Red Wings goaltender Dominik Hasek is expected to announce his retirement from the NHL. The Red Wings have scheduled a press conference for Monday for today. Over the course of 16 NHL seasons, Hasek posted a record of 389-223-82, with 81 shutouts and a career goals against average of 2.20. At 43, he is the NHL’s oldest active goalie.
Hasek has won six Vezina Trophies as the NHL’s top goaltender, two Hart Trophies as the league’s most valuable player and an Olympic gold medal with the Czech Republic at the 1998 Nagano Olympics.
Hasek leaves the game after a rough and cut short run to his second Stanley Cup this season. He lost his starting role in Game 4 of Detroit’s first-round series against the Nashville Predators to Chris Osgood, who remained the starter during the team’s run for the Stanley Cup.
Brett Favre - The Green Bay quarterback never took a game off during his 16 years with Packers and became the face of the franchise, setting myriad of records, most notably for most career NFL touchdown passes (442), most career NFL passing yards (61,655) and most consecutive starts among NFL quarterbacks (253).
Bobby Knight - With an astonishing record of 902-371, The General is currently the all-time winningest Division-I head coach and is best known for his time with Indiana, where he led the Hoosiers to three NCAA titles.
Steve McNair - As a former co-MVP, Steve McNair had given his body to the game. After last season, though, the barrel-chested slinger declared: ”Physically, I couldn’t do it anymore.” Larry Allen - The 11-time Pro Bowler and long-time Dallas Cowboy retired as a San Francisco 49er. Allen is considered a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Annika Sorenstam - The 37-year-old Swede, who has won 10 majors, 72 Tour events and $22,081,561 overall, announced Tuesday that she would step away from the LPGA Tour at season’s end.
Vinny Testaverde - A great symbol of longevity, Vinny Testaverde, 44, threw for more than 46,000 yards and holds the NFL record for having thrown a touchdown pass in 21 consecutive seasons.
Monica Seles - Tennis fans can bid a formal adieu to the winner of 53 singles titles. She captured eight of her nine major championships by the age of 19. Not even a stabbing by a crazed fan in 1993 could end her career as she returned to the game 27 months later. Pat Riley - On the heels of a 15-67 season, the former director of the Lakers Showtime teams stepped down as coach of the Heat with an NBA championship ring for each finger.
Chris Webber - Known best for his flash as the leader of Michigan’s Fab Five, the No. 1 pick in the 1993 draft retired after a series of knee injuries limited his movement and effectiveness.
Dale Jarrett - Back in October, the three-time Daytona 500 winner and the 1999 Cup Champion announced that he will drive off into the sunset after 24 years. Mike Rucker - One of the most beloved Carolina Panthers, the defensive end retires as the second-leading tackler and sacks leader in team history. His only Pro Bowl selection came during the Panthers 2003 Super Bowl season, when he had a career-high 12 sacks.
The top-seeded Detroit Red Wings will try to take an important 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals tonight, when they visit the floundering Dallas Stars for Game 3 at American Airlines Center. Detroit has taken a two game lead in this series after posting wins in Games 1 and 2 on home ice. The Red Wings recorded a 4-1 decision in game 1 last Thursday and followed with a 2-1 win on Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena.
The Red Wings have won eight straight games since head coach Mike Babcock made the big decision to switch goaltenders and replaced Dominik Hasek with Chris Osgood. Osgood is 8-0 with a 1.40 goals against average and .939 save percentage in this postseason. The matchup one Wednesday should be an intense one, with the altercation between Ribeiro and Osgood in game 2 causing a lot of tension.
Mike Ribeiro, the Stars leading scorer in the regular season and the playoffs, was involved in a controversial confrontation with Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood near the end of the third period of Game 2. After Osgood appeared to hit Ribeiro in the face with the butt-end off his stick, the Stars forward then took a big swing from behind the net to hit the goaltender in the ribs with his stick. Mike Ribeiro was given a 10-minute game misconduct for the slash.
Check out the video of the clearly intentional slash.
The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given “to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League.” The prestigious award has been given 70 times since its beginnings in 1937.
This year’s nominees are Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews of the Chicago Blackhawks, and Nicklas Backstrom of the Washington Capitols. Kane was taken first overall by the Chicago Blackhawks at last summer’s NHL draft and led all freshmen with 21 goals and 72 points in 82 games this season. Toews, who played with Kane on Chicago’s top line for most of the season, collected 54 points, despite having a shorter season (64 games) due to a knee injury. Backstrom finished second to Kane in scoring (69 points) and helped lead the Capitals into the playoffs.
Danica Patrick made history Saturday night, becoming the first woman to win a major auto race by capturing the IndyCar Series’ event at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit in Japan.
Patrick, led by a smart call by team manager Kyle Moyer, Monrovia, Ind., went the final 51 laps without a pit stop to become the surprise winner of the Indy Japan 300. Patrick was participating in her 50th IndyCar Series race. Until her huge win on Saturday, she was best known for being the first woman to lead the Indianapolis 500. Patrick was named the Rookie of the Year for both the 2005 Indianapolis 500 and the 2005 IndyCar Series season.
The Detroit Red Wings were hoping to stay with Dominik Hasek when the playoffs began after rotating the goalie with Chris Osgood in the regular season. Hasek was so shaky in a series-evening loss that coach Mike Babcock was forced to make a move.
“This is Plan B,” Babcock said yesterday. “But Plan B is Chris Osgood and I think he won 29 games and had the best goals-against average in the NHL.”
Hasek was benched after giving up three goals on 14 shots in Wednesday’s 3-2 loss at Nashville. Hasek is the oldest active goalie in the NHL at 43, and the second oldest active player in the league after Red Wings teammate Chris Chelios, who is 46.
